New Bike Tech on Display at 2013 Tour de France

July 23, 2013

Each year, the Tour de France doubles as a showcase for high performance bike technology. Companies use it to push out all kinds of new gear, some of which riders choose to use, and some not. Some riders, who are often when it comes to gear, even choose to use non-sponsor equipment and, in some cases, even design their own. Here are a few of the most interesting items we spotted from the Tour.—Joe Lindsey

A relatively new entry to power measurement, electronics giant Pioneer first showed its unique entry at last year’s Eurobike show. The unit is not as sleek as models from SRM and Quarq, but it can measure left/right power directly, providing an even finer gradation of data than most power meters. The head unit even has a real-time power balance readout. Downside: Currently it works with only Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 and 9000 series cranks. Belkin has been testing the units since last March’s Paris-Nice, but there are no announced plans yet for sale to consumers.

SRM has not been able to design a power meter that truly integrates with Shimano Dura-Ace since the 7800 series, two generations ago, because the company relies on replacing the stock spider with its own version to measure strain and transmit to the head unit. The newer 7900 and now 9000 Dura-Ace cranks use a heavily relieved spider and drive-side arm that aren’t easy to integrate. Before 9000, SRM used 7800 arms with 7900 rings. To incorporate the new four-bolt chainring pattern of 9000’s 11-speed rings, it needed a new spider.

At the Tour de France, SRM for the first time showed a drive-side arm that is cosmetically similar to 9000. The FC-SR70 arms are clearly stamped “Not for Sale” and while they feature some machining and different anodization, they are a Shimano-modified 7800-series arm. SRM, however, is still popular with Shimano teams because of the system’s accuracy; 27 years after it was first invented, it remains the gold standard in power meters.

A number of Orica-GreenEdge riders, including Stuart O’Grady, raced aboard the new Addict SL from Scott, instead of the aero Foil model. The redesigned Addict is lighter; Scott claims it now weighs less than 1,000 grams for the frame and fork (54cm). While a number of companies launched new bikes in the month before the Tour, the Scott is notable in that Orica riders chose to ride the new model in the race, without having had much time on it.

Orbea rolled out this redesigned Orca just prior to the Tour, and Euskaltel riders eagerly adopted the new model. The Orca line has been around for a decade, and this iteration is visually similar to the existing one, but it takes some of its aerodynamic cues, such as the fork, from the company’s Ordu TT model. Cable routing is now all internal, the bottom bracket is a BB90 press-fit standard, and improvements in materials and construction make the new model 10 percent lighter.

French bikemaker Look first showed this updated version of the 695 (called the Aerolight) at Eurobike in 2012, and we started seeing the bike on Cofidis’ team car at Paris-Nice. But it wasn’t until late June that the Aerolight was formally unveiled in Corsica. The new bike isn’t a pure aero bike; it’s visually similar to the existing 695 iPack, with a few alterations that reduce drag, namely integrated brakes and a new integrated stem design called the Aerostem, which features an adjustable rise from -13 to +17 degrees.

The most striking feature of the new 695 Aerolight: the brakes. The new standard for aerodynamic bikes is linear-pull style cantilevers. But companies orient them in various ways behind the fork, in front of the fork with or without a cover or, in the case of the Aerolight, inside a molded window in the fork itself. The rear brake is mounted underneath the chainstays behind the bottom bracket.

Both Mark Cavendish and Tony Martin tried out SRAM’s new Hydraulic Rim Road (HRR) brakes on stages of the Tour, but SRAM helped its teams prep full fleets of bikes for the final stage onto the Champs-Elysees. Here, mechanics ready Saxo Bank’s bikes, including Alberto Contador’s specially painted version.

Pro rider positions are always a study in extremes. Riders often choose smaller frame sizes than they really should be riding, in order to achieve less drag, thanks to a short head tube. But even that’s not enough for some riders. Both Lars Bak and Adam Hansen of Lotto-Belisol choose Deda’s Zero100 Pista stem in a -23 degree drop for the lowest position possible. Hansen also runs an extremely narrow 38cm wide bar.

Lotto-Belisol’s Adam Hansen is a fascinating rider: an Australian who lives in the Czech Republic racing for a Belgian team. And he also makes his own shoes. These gorgeous graffiti-styled, custom-made kicks are 100-percent carbon fiber; Hansen uses different resins in the carbon to make the uppers flexible. The reel closure is molded into the shape and the dial is hidden under the arch for aerodynamics; Hansen even molds his cleats into the shoe. The shoes weigh 105g each. He plans to start selling similar production models (but with removable cleats) soon via his company, Hanseeno.

Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang was one of a handful of riders we spotted on Campagnolo’s 80th anniversary group, but he doesn’t use stock cables. Instead, he runs Alligator’s I-Link system, which features a PTFE-coated cable in a compressionless aluminum housing comprised of distinct sections that allow mechanics to custom-tune the housing’s length. SRAM-sponsored Alberto Contador also runs Alligator housings on his brake and derailleur cables.

Overall winner Chris Froome’s Sky team is sponsored by Shimano, but he prefers Osymmetric ovalized chainrings, which the company claims optimize power in the most forceful phase of the pedal stroke, and flatten the curve at the dead spot. Froome’s race bike was outfitted with the oval chainrings on an SRM power meter, but his spare bike features the Osymmetric rings on a 7900 crankset. The logos are blacked out in a nod to Shimano.

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